Coca-Cola brings Powerade to take on Gatorade

Coca-Cola will launch its global sports drink Powerade in India within the next two months ahead of the ICC World Cup to compete head-on with PepsiCo’s Gatorade in the small but emerging sports drink market, officials in direct knowledge of the development said.

Powerade, which is among the US beverage maker’s billion-dollar retail sales plus brands globally, has been so far available only through imports in the country. This will be Coca-Cola’s second attempt to launch locally-made Powerade in India — its earlier plans did not take off. “Our focus is how to grow the business, but reduce calories,” Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey had told ET in an interview last month.

An email query to Coca-Cola India remained unanswered till the time of going to press.

“The functional sports drinks market is beginning to resonate with millennials and we are seeing good offtake at retail stores. However, unlike a couple of years back, now there are dozens of specialised hydration products for consumers to choose from,” said Devendra Chawla, chief executive, Spencer’s Retail.

A recent report by Research and Markets forecast the global sports drink market to touch $28.6 billion by 2023, from $22.2 billion in 2017, growing at 4.3%.

The Indian market, however, continues to be minuscule in comparison. “Work needs to be done to develop the category as versus global consumption, in India it is more of a night consumption or mixer drink. Besides, women are less convinced about health benefits of the category compared to men,” Chawla said.

The maker of soft drinks Coke, Thums Up and Sprite has been hedging portfolio risks by expanding sugar-free variants of its brands, smaller packs and picking up associations with large sporting events such as the ICC World Cup and the IPL T20 League.